


Adding Fuel to the Fire

by sstwinz



Category: My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, One Shot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 02:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13848384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sstwinz/pseuds/sstwinz
Summary: When Sunset Shimmer was reformed, she thought that everything would magically get better. But it turns out life isn’t filled with rainbows and sunshine, and all of her efforts to reform just end up adding fuel to her fire. So far, reformation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.Originally written in 2015 (before Rainbow Rocks came out!).





	Adding Fuel to the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> If this story seems a bit different from the plot of Rainbow Rocks, it's because I wrote it before Rainbow Rocks came out! This is an imaginative take on Sunset Shimmer's reformation, since I don't think that it's easy to suddenly change yourself, especially when no one seems to be giving you a chance.

Sunset Shimmer sat alone at the lunch table, just like she had yesterday, and the day before that, and every day since her rival Twilight Sparkle had travelled back to Equestria to take on her role as a perfect little alicorn princess. At least before she had had Snips and Snails as company, although they didn't really count for much. She picked up her fork and slowly twirled it around in her hand for a few seconds before setting it back down on her lunch tray, a frown on her face. She stared up at the lunch line, where five girls stood, chatting it up as they waited for their food. One of them said something, probably a joke, and the other four laughed and beamed at each other.

Sunset couldn't stand them. You'd think that after they promised to make friends with her the other five in Twilight's little group would have made more of an effort, but no. She'd  _ tried  _ to be their friend, tried to turn over a new leaf like Principal Celestia said, but she could tell they never liked her. Whenever she walked over to them, their conversation would die abruptly, and it would quickly become an awkward silence with one of them posing some random question to her every so often to break it up. Oh, Sunset, how are your classes going? Isn't the weather lovely today? Hasn't your life been so much better since you tried to be reformed? No, it hasn't. As a matter of fact, it's been worse, if you can believe it. But of course, she'd  _ never _ say  _ that _ .

Eventually, they'd find some excuse to walk away, like they were late for a meeting with a teacher or they were finished with lunch and were going outside, and a few minutes later she'd see them again, all bunched up and talking like some sort of secret club. The best of friends, with no room for anyone else. So eventually she just gave up trying. They'd still come up and talk to her sometimes, but she could feel their relief that she wasn't interested in being with their group anymore.

If she could, Sunset would go back to her old life in a heartbeat. It was so much  _ easier _ to be on top, and it felt so much  _ better _ . But now Principal Celestia was watching her closely, and she had to toe the line. So she decided that the best strategy was just to not talk to anyone at all and stay a loner, everyone too afraid to talk to her after what she did before and not even willing to try. That was just fine by her. If they weren’t going to bother, she wasn’t either.

As she looked up again, the giggling gang had gotten their food and were stepping out of the lunch line. They stopped and surveyed the lunchroom, probably looking for a table. Rarity gestured to Sunset’s table and spoke a few words to the group. The others frowned and gave one another ‘Do we  _ have  _ to?’ glances before the group headed over to her table to make an appearance. Sunset quickly plastered a smile onto her face. It wouldn’t do for them to see that something was wrong, would it? The less time they spent around her, the better. As they approached, the five grew some fake smiles as well. Rarity was the only one who actually bothered walking all the way up to her, the others hung back a few steps.

“Hello, Sunset!” she said with false cheer. “How are you doing?”

She wished Rarity would call her by her full name, just calling her Sunset made it sound like they were actually friends. “Just great, Rarity!” she replied in the same fake tone. “And how are you?”

“Oh, great!” The fashionista gave a light, awkward laugh. She waited for a moment, biting her lip a little, presumably waiting for Sunset to say something. After a few more seconds, she spoke again. “Isn’t the weather lovely today?”

“It sure is!” Sunset agreed, her fake smile widening as she talked. Rarity would give up in a few seconds.

“Well, we’re going to go find a table, if that’s ok with you?”

“Oh, sure!” Sunset looked at her completely empty table. She couldn’t help but notice that it was the only empty one in the entire lunchroom.

Released from the conversation, Rarity began to inch back toward her friends. “Have a good day, Sunset!”

“You too!”

The others gave her small waves as they walked away to find a table somewhere in the crowded room. Well, good luck to them. The smile slid off of Sunset’s face as soon as their backs were turned, resuming it’s usual glowering frown. She didn’t really feel like hanging out in the lunchroom anymore, seeing all of the afraid or wary looks as the students gave her a wide berth. She was done eating anyway. She stood up and took her lunch tray to the trash can, hearing the slop as she slid most of her food into the can. Without a word to anyone, she left the lunchroom, feeling the eyes of the students on her back and conversations grind to a halt as she walked by. Well, maybe some of those poor students could get a table, since there was an open one now. 

She exited the lunchroom, turned a couple of corners to get away from the noise, and ended up in corridor filled with lockers, one of her favorite places to come when she couldn’t take being around others anymore. Her anger and frustration was at a peak, and she  _ hated  _ them, hated  _ all  _ of them, hated the kids who thought that she was going to kill them if they even looked at her, hated that little group of five for their awkward conversations, hated both Celestias for not wanting to let her just do what she wanted, and most of all hated that little goody-goody Twilight Sparkle for having to be  _ so perfect _ everywhere and liked by everyone and taking everything away from her and making her have to deal with all of this in the first place. She was filled with so much rage that she had to do something, no matter how pointless. She made her hand into a fist and punched a locker as hard as she could, enjoying the sting on her knuckles and the ringing that echoed throughout the entire hall. 

At that moment, Adagio Dazzle rounded the corner. Sunset didn’t know her personally, she was a newcomer to the school and mostly stuck to herself and her own little clique. Sunset had seen a bit of herself in the girl in the way she acted, but never bothered talking to her since she was supposed to be reformed and knew it would look bad to Principal Celestia if she was seen talking to her. Adagio wasn’t one of the most well-loved people at the school.

The girl’s purple eyes locked on to Sunset’s, and she walked toward her, a growing smile on her face. She stopped just a few steps away from Sunset, the closest anyone had come to her since Twilight had left. “Hello, I’m Adagio Dazzle,” she said. “I’ve seen you around, you’re Sunset Shimmer, right?”

“Right,” Sunset replied, eying the other girl. Adagio had just seen her not acting how she was supposed to be after the great reformation, and she was curious about how the other girl would react. She wasn’t worried about being turned in or anything, she knew Adagio wasn’t one of those goody-goodies like the other students, but she didn’t quite know what the other girl was planning on doing.

Adagio, luckily, got straight to the point. “Have you heard about the talent show that’s coming up?” She pulled a flier out of her bag and passed it to Sunset. ‘The Mane Event!’ was written across the top in big letters. Sunset almost snorted with laughter at the ridiculous name. She’d heard about the talent show, of course, everyone was talking about it as they tried to get a band together to be able to compete. She hadn’t had any interest, it seemed like another dumb money grab by the school and it wasn’t like she knew anyone who would ever join up with her anyway, even though she could play the guitar like a professional.

Adagio gave her time to read the entire flier, then continued. “I’m getting a band together to compete, and I’m planning on going all the way to the top. I like that anger I just saw, and we could use you. Do you play an instrument?”

“Guitar.” Sunset said slightly hesitantly, looking the girl right in the eyes.

Adagio smiled. “Perfect. I’m sure I could get a spot for the guitar open for you. That is, if you’re interested.” Her smile became a slight smirk, an expression that Sunset knew well. “So, what do you say? Will you join the band, go to the top, and stick it to all those people who left you a loner here? Or will you be too scared about getting into trouble with Principal Celestia for joining up with me?” She reached her hand out for Sunset to shake and waited.

The offer was tempting, very tempting. Adagio seemed to have similar goals as Sunset had before Twilight showed up, and had the same drive to be on top. Plus, she had heard that those five were thinking of starting up a band themselves, and she’d love to see the looks on their faces when they realized that their ‘best efforts’ weren’t quite good enough to keep her all happy and smiley. And playing the guitar as hard as she could, showing off all that anger, being able to really beat all the others at again, after such a long time? It wasn’t even really a choice. Without another thought, she reached out and took Adagio Dazzle’s hand. 

“Deal.”


End file.
